SONG OF THE DAY

SONG OF THE DAY

Day #31

Today's song is ‘The Doll People’ by Australian Indie/Alternative artist Sofia Isella from her very recently released 2024 EP ‘I Can Be Your Mother’. Unsettling yet captivating, her sound has a similar quality to and takes inspiration from artists such as Billie Eilish, Nine Inch Nails, Caroline Polachek, Lorde, Imogen Heap, and Fiona Apple. The track is very dark exploring gender, sex, and identity with unflinching and purposefully crude lyrics. The track feels more like an avant-garde fable with its blend of conventional yet grand piano and strings with unconventional vocal work, such as her goosebump-raising runs, breaths, and clicking. At only 19 Sofia Isella commands your attention akin to a more established artist, so it's no wonder she was invited to perform as an opener for Taylor Swift’s Eras tour and is fastly emerging into the mainstream.

“To be admired takes precedence over admiring

To be desired takes precedence over desiring

Drink the dolls

Legs spread like butter

We are wife, whore, mistress, maid, mother”

I've read some amazing fics with beautiful and healthy relationships and messages about mental health that have made me the person I am today. I wish I had half the courage fanfic writers do so take this post as a blanket thank you ❤️

Some fanfictions have left a more profound impression on me than published literature, and I want to encourage every fic writer: Write and write from the heart. Don't let fear stop you, because your impact is bigger than you think💜

SONG OF THE DAY

Day #29

Today's song is Exit Girl by New Zealand artist Sophie Brown, known professionally as Ratbag. Released in 2023 and on her debut EP Why Aren’t You Laughing? the track is eclectic matching her chaotic energy. This song has quickly become one of my favourite tracks since first hearing it (thank you Discover Weekly). I love its manic and anxious energy during its chorus and its angsty vibe during its lows. Ratbag is also a visual artist experimenting in multiple formats from fashion to digital art to gritty sketches. Her surrealist characters and designs are featured in her music videos and promotional artwork, with the cover of her EP being her work as well. Her band of emotion-emulating monsters are a key part of the ‘world of Ratbag’, where music and visuals are combined to create a theatrical experience of her ideas made tangible. I'm super excited to see what Ratbag makes next, and I hope we are continuously invited to experience her enigmatic creations.

“Where is the exit girl?

Where is the exit girl?

Put down your drink and help me get

Home”

SONG OF THE DAY

Day #34

Today's track is ‘Butterfly Net’ by American alternative pop artist Caroline Polachek, specifically the alternate version featuring ‘Weyes Blood’. Released in 2023 for her album ‘Desire, I Want To Turn Into You’ the baroque pop song was remixed in 2024 and was featured on the album's deluxe ‘Everasking’ Edition. Caroline Polachek’s vocals always have this shimmery quality, creating a transformative experience, like a waking dream. With poetic lyrics conveying longing and melancholy, the original track is delicate and soothing. The ‘Weyes Blood’ version adds a dusky veneer, giving it a glowing or spiritual quality.

“There I was

With my butterfly net

Trying to catch your light”

P.S. Check out one of Polachek’s older projects ‘Chairlift’ with Aaron Pfenning and Patrick Wimberly, they are brilliant especially their 2016 album ‘Moth’.

SONG OF THE DAY

Day #27

Today's choice is Chase the Sun by the Italian group Planet Funk. Released in 2000 and then included in their 2001 debut album Non Zero Sumness, the track has a lush production with stunning vocals provided by finish artist Auli Kokko. This track is a breath of fresh air and as the lyrics of the song suggest, the track is a bright and summery dance number that transports you to better times.

“I’m flying away

Running like the wind

As I chase the sun”

SONG OF THE DAY

Day #25

Today's pick is Quiet! by Australian indie band Flowertruck from their 2022 album Mostly Sunny. The four-piece band hails from Sydney with an emphasis on witty lyrics and a whimsical yet carefree production similar to 80s groups like Talking Heads. Quiet! is a tongue-in-cheek alt-rock track about not being able to fall asleep that's so delightful you can't help but smile while bopping along. Their discography is also similarly summery, using wordplay and bright nostalgic sound to explore the drama and melancholy of feeling adrift in your mid-20s (See tracks Liklihood and Sing Along to Your Life from the same album for relateable lyrics about the crushing weight of existence set to vocals and production taken straight out of a romantic comedy or coming of age film). I think the best way to illustrate Flowertrucks vibe is by this quote, from a 2022 NME article, about their song Pretending: “…Rushforth (lead vocalist) explains he’d written the music for (it) years earlier, but struggled to find the words to accompany it until an experience last year in which he turned up to a children’s birthday party hungover.” Yeah… that’s the band's energy in a nutshell: refreshingly self-deprecating yet confident, with a friendly and uplifting tone.

“I can't slip into rest

Overwrought by the mess

Of my thoughts unconscious

Pinch me!

Why does it have to be do quiet?”